


Don’t (Role) Play With My Heart

by AgentStannerShipper



Series: Kinktober 2018 [26]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: (aka elf/half-orc), Dirty Talk, M/M, Roleplay, Size Kink, Unsafe Sex, but they're all really humans, implied interspecies relationship, look this is mostly dumb idiots pining, the characters are a little bit drunk but this is something they both want, the dnd kind and the sex kind, with a shitty excuse for porn in the middle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 22:21:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16417082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentStannerShipper/pseuds/AgentStannerShipper
Summary: Harry and Merlin aren't just flatmates; they've been playing Dungeons and Dragons together for years. Harry wouldn't mind blurring the lines between game and reality just a little. Unfortunately, he has no idea if Merlin is interested.Thank god for roleplay.





	Don’t (Role) Play With My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Day twenty-six was roleplay, and thanks a million to unicornspaceinvasion for giving me this brilliant suggestion. I hope I did it justice.

Alistair cleared his throat, not for the first time during the session, and Merlin and Harry looked away from each other and towards their Dungeon Master. Merlin lifted his chin defiantly, and Harry’s expression somehow managed to look guilty and shameless at the same time. Alistair sighed. “I know the point of the game is to roleplay, but even I have my limits to listening to you two flirt. Please save some of it for the bedroom so we can get back to the game?”

Harry opened his mouth, intending to protest, but James cut him off, addressing Alistair. “You said there was a tavern in this town?”

“Yes. The Rusty Maiden.”

Merlin barely managed to contain a snort, and James’s grin widened. “Alright. I’m going there, then.” He glanced back at Merlin and Harry, “Ohzor, Elarwin, you’re welcome to join me.”

Harry and Merlin exchanged glances, and then figuratively followed the third member of their party.

After the session, when James and Alistair had left arm-in-arm, leaving Merlin and Harry alone in the flat they shared, Harry said, “You never tell Alistair that we aren’t a couple.”

Merlin looked up, frowning, and then swept the remainder of his dice into the bag. “I don’t tell him that because he’s joking. We play a couple in the game, Harry. I’m fairly certain Alistair can tell the difference between roleplay and real life.”

Harry bit his lip, avoiding Merlin’s gaze. In all honesty, he hadn’t thought much of the other man when they’d met at university nearly five years ago. Merlin had still been Ian then, before he’d earned his nickname – partly for being a genius with computers, and partly for being a Dungeons and Dragons nerd with a propensity for wizard characters – and he’d been nice enough, tutoring Harry in a few of his classes, but it hadn’t been until their second year of knowing each other that Harry realized they were friends. By the third, best friends. And now, far too late, their lives already inexorably tangled up together in the same friend group, the same flat, Harry had realized, only a few months ago, just before the beginning of this particular campaign, that he was hopelessly, wildly in love with him.

The flirting had been an accident, a joke about Harry’s stereotypically lustful elf rouge having the hots for Merlin’s “unlovable” – and unusual for him – half-orc barbarian. And suddenly Harry couldn’t stop it, every D&D session turning into another opportunity to have just a taste of what he wanted outside the fantasy without having to sacrifice the one thing he could not live without: Merlin’s friendship.

“You’re right,” he said softly after a moment. “It’s just a game.”

“Aye. My turn to cook dinner, which means you’re doing the washing up.” And just like that, Merlin had moved on, leaving Harry standing in their tiny living room, clutching onto the fading vestiges of Elarwin Starbrow as the character – and Merlin - slipped away.

Dinner was delicious. Merlin was a fantastic cook. But Harry found he couldn’t enjoy it, picking at his plate until Merlin set his beer down on the table with a thunk that startled Harry. “What’s with you today?”

Harry gave a half-hearted shrug. “Just in a bit of a mood, I think.”

“You’re not still obsessing over what Alistair said, are you?” Merlin asked. “It’s a game, Harry. A bit of roleplay. It doesn’t mean anything.” There was a flicker of concern behind his eyes, and Harry physically shook himself.

“You’re right,” he said. “Sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Merlin grinned. He slid his empty plate Harry’s way, and Harry collected it up without a thought, bringing it and his own to the sink to start the washing up while Merlin commandeered the telly for one of his science fiction shows that held no interest for Harry.

Two hours, two beers and one whisky later for Harry, he was sliding into Merlin’s lap on the sofa, his head pleasantly fuzzy as his arms wrapped around Merlin’s neck. Merlin had been drinking too, a habit after game night, enough that he would be just as tipsy as Harry was and therefore much more likely to think this was a good idea. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s back, frowning in confusion as Harry nuzzled against his cheek, moving his hips in slow circles over Merlin’s crotch.

“Harry?”

Harry put a finger over Merlin’s lips, grinning broadly at him. “My name isn’t Harry. It’s Elarwin Starbrow.”

Merlin blinked, tilting his head, and Harry pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Merlin’s mouth parted under his, a surprised breath escaping, and Harry lapped it up, nearly crowing in satisfaction as he felt Merlin’s cock stir against his arse, responding to the friction. “Elarwin?” Merlin repeated softly, like the name was unfamiliar in his mouth.

“Ohzor,” Harry breathed. “I want you so badly, darling.” The words were daring, and Harry paused, waiting for Merlin to either understand the game or to reject it as nonsense. It was one thing to roleplay a couple when Alistair and James were around. To do it in their own home, on their living room sofa, as a pretence for sex? Harry knew he was pushing the limits of meta just a bit, but there was just enough alcohol in him to make him brave.

“Not here,” Merlin whispered, and Harry startled, before Merlin’s arms were clutching him closer, speaking directly into his ear. “The other patrons will see. A half-orc and an elf is an unusual sight on its own. We wouldn’t want to shock them anymore than we already have.”

Delight ran brilliant, sparking courses through Harry’s veins, and he all but leapt out of Merlin’s lap, grabbing his hands and drawing him towards his bedroom. “We’ll have to be quiet,” he cautioned. “Tevari is sleeping in the next room. We don’t want to wake her.”

Merlin groaned at the mention of James’s character, nodding profusely. He pushed Harry down onto the bed, stripping his shirt off before joining, and Harry’s mouth watered as Merlin’s muscles were bared. He curled his fingers around Merlin’s biceps, panted as Merlin shoved his way between Harry’s thighs. “You’re so strong, darling.”

“And you’re such a slut for my cock,” Merlin rumbled, a slightly more explicit version of the taunts Harry got to endure all through gameplay. “My perfect elven slut, so desperate that an elven prick wasn’t large enough for you. You needed something bigger.”

Although they were the same height in real life, Ohzor dwarfed Elarwin, and Harry had emphatically stated in-game that Ohzor’s cock was massive. Given the bulge that Merlin was rutting against his arse, Harry had a happy feeling that in this aspect, the reality would absolutely live up to the fantasy.

“Needed you,” Harry gasped, struggling with his own shirt buttons. Merlin grabbed it from him, tearing it at the seams as he ripped it off him, and Harry’s cock gave an eager throb at the brutal display. He fumbled for Merlin’s belt, unable to work it with his trembling fingers, and Merlin didn’t try to help, groaning as it put pressure against his trapped cock.

“What would your family say if they could see you now?” Merlin snarled. “The Starbrow Saviour, noblest of the elves, begging for an orc to defile him.”

“Please!” Harry cried. He finally managed to get Merlin’s belt undone, and Merlin shoved his trousers off, then did the same to Harry’s even more roughly than before. At that rate, Harry would have to go clothes shopping soon, but he didn’t care, his eyes fixed on Merlin’s now-bare cock, flushed and leaking, bright red and thick, _Jesus Christ so thick_ , longer than Harry’s biggest dildo and at least as big around as his wrist. Merlin paused under the weight of his gaze, a hesitation that nearly broke the hypnotic rhythm of the game, but then Harry was surging forward, clinging to his neck, begging, “Let me taste it, darling, please. I want to choke on it, before you pin me down and show the world that Ohzor the Conqueror has felled the Starbrow champion and reduced him to a sobbing, begging whore.”

Merlin grunted, seizing Harry’s hair and dragging him up for a messy kiss, all clashing teeth and tongue and somehow still better than any other kiss of Harry’s life. Then he shoved Harry down, practically flattening him to the mattress, and gripped the base of his cock, rubbing the head of it against Harry’s lips.

Harry didn’t need further prompting; his mouth fell open, and he moaned as Merlin thrust in, the first one careful, only a few inches deep, not even sliding down Harry’s throat. Harry rectified the situation, grabbing hold of Merlin’s hips and sinking down as far as he could manage, fighting against Merlin’s grip on his hair until half the length disappeared down his throat and Merlin was crying out in surprise and pleasure, hips twitching with the effort not to bury himself deeper. Harry appreciated it, but what he really wanted was Merlin desperate, fucking his mouth like the ruthless barbarian he was pretending to be.

He pulled off, knowing his lips were swollen and shiny with spit, an image of pure debauchery. Merlin’s eyes darkened, and Harry murmured, his voice already a bit rough, “Ohzor, please. Conquer me, darling.”

“My love,” Merlin breathed, and then he was dragging Harry down his cock again, cramming every inch of it into Harry’s throat until Harry couldn’t breathe around it, choking on the massive intrusion and making his throat flex and ripple around the shaft. Merlin groaned and pulled out, just long enough for Harry to cough and catch his breath, and then he thrust in again, setting a rough pace as he hunched over Harry, cradling his head and humping into his mouth, grunts slipping from his lips as he chased his pleasure.

Harry clung to Merlin’s thighs, breathing when able to and relishing the tears that pricked in his eyes every time he started to choke. His throat would be sore tomorrow, his voice raspy, and it was glorious. There was so _much_ of Merlin, heavy and hot on his tongue, and all Harry had to do was cover his teeth and keep his jaw open and Merlin kept fucking him, filthy words dripping from his lips, curses against the wiles of elves and praise for soft elven lips and loose elven sluts.

When he withdrew, Harry nearly cried for real, his voice utterly wrecked when he begged, “Ohzor, darling, don’t stop.”

Merlin yanked Harry’s head back with the grip in his hair, baring his throat. “I would have you submit for me fully. I wish to see you on your knees, Elarwin, your arse mine for the taking because you can belong to no other.”

“No other,” Harry echoed. He scrambled back, nearly slipping in his haste to present himself for Merlin, sucking in a harsh breath as Merlin’s hand clamped firmly around the back of his neck, pushing his forehead down to the mattress. “Only you, my darling. Take me, please.”

Merlin’s cock was slick with Harry’s saliva when it pressed between his cheeks, and although Harry’s mind was fuzzy from the alcohol, he still had enough sense to worry for a brief moment that Merlin would try to fuck him like this. To his satisfaction, Merlin merely rutted between his cheeks, wet enough to slide easily, and Harry groaned and arched back. “I would take you like this if I could,” Merlin growled, and his brogue was thicker than Harry had ever heard it, like a physical force penetrating Harry’s body, going straight to his throbbing cock, neglected but still so very hard. “No one would blame me, not even you. A barbarian is wild, is he not? Untamed. Meant only to claim what is his and _you_ are _mine_.”

“Yours,” Harry panted. “Ohzor-“

“But only a fool would break his toys beyond repair,” Merlin continued, and Harry heard the sound of a drawer sliding out, the snick of a cap as Merlin found the lube Harry kept inside. “And as big a slut as you are, my love, no elf can take a half-orc without breaking. Not without a bit of work done first.”

“Yes,” Harry moaned into the mattress. “Break me, darling, break me for your cock.”

The first finger was heaven. Harry had teased Merlin, years ago, when he’d found out Merlin could play the piano, measuring their fingers and concluding that naturally Merlin’s were longer, designed for the instrument. Now, he thought it would be more apt to say they were designed for him, the digit reaching far deeper than Harry could have manged on his own, probing inside him and then withdrawing, only to return with a second one, the pair of them scissoring apart, stretching Harry for something far larger still to come. Harry panted harshly through it, egging Merlin on with throaty moans and low words of encouragement, telling him how good it would be to get his cock inside such a warm, willing body. How for warriors like them, the surrender was always the sweetest. How in this fantasy world they both knew well, this was not their first time, but their hundredth, and it was every time all at once. That first time Ohzor pinned Elarwin to a wall and claimed what was rightfully his. The time Elarwin had buried his head between Ohzor’s thighs in a crowded inn and sucked him off desperately even as they were surrounded by others listening to Tevari play her songs. The time, after a big battle, Ohzor had made love to him, fast and hard, hardly taking the time to prepare Elarwin, his cock nearly splitting him in half because they were so desperate to feel something, to know that in that moment they were still together, still victorious. The stories spilling from Harry’s lips kept him grounded, kept Merlin moving, as two fingers became three, and then four, stuffing him full and still stretching, still making room for something that Harry was beginning to wonder if it could possibly fit.

And then the fingers were gone, and Merlin had a hand on his hip, and something massive and blunt was being pressed against him as Merlin whispered, “Breathe for me, my love. This is the hard part. But it will fit. It always fits.”

Harry tried not to tense, and the tears were back as Merlin ground his hip in, grunting until Harry’s tight rim finally released and the head was able to slide inside. Harry could feel his cock softening, knew it was a natural reaction to the feeling of being spread so wide, cramming such a massive intrusion into such a small hole, and he panted, keeping one hand on the bed to brace himself and searching back desperately with the other one, not relaxing until Merlin laced their fingers together.

“Elarwin,” Merlin cooed. “My precious star.”

The pet name from the game, Merlin’s favourite, soothed Harry, and he managed to relax enough for Merlin to sink in another inch, pressing deeper and then rocking out again, letting him adjust.

“Am I hurting you, starlight?”

“No,” Harry breathed. “No, darling, it…” It didn’t quite feel good. It felt full, felt overwhelming, but not quite good, not yet. He knew it would though, soon. “Keep going, please.”

So Merlin did, inch by inch, working himself deeper and deeper inside Harry, until Harry was sure that there wasn’t room for much more. “I can stop,” Merlin whispered. “Just say the word, starlight.”

“I don’t want to stop!” Harry protested, gripping their joined hands a little tighter.

Merlin pressed a kiss to his shoulder blade. “I’m deep enough,” he whispered. “You’re taking so much of me, starlight. We can stop here. I have plenty of room to move.”

Harry took a steadying breath and shook his head. “I want all of you.”

“Har-…Elarwin-“

“All of you,” Harry repeated. “Please, darling.”

“Alright,” Merlin relented. He dropped one more kiss on Harry’s shoulder and then started to move again. Harry grit his teeth and kept as still as possible, forcing his muscles not to tense up, focusing on the little bits of praise that fell from Merlin’s lips.

He almost didn’t realize it when Merlin stopped, hips flush against Harry, every inch of his enormous cock buried inside Harry’s tight hole. “That’s all of it,” Merlin murmured. “Look at you. My precious, shining star. You’re taking all of me, starlight, you’re so good, so perfect.”

Harry startled when Merlin reached beneath him, long fingers cupping his completely soft cock. A flash of embarrassment made him glad his face was hidden, but Merlin didn’t laugh at him. He pet the flesh, circling it lightly in his fist and giving gentle pumps, encouraging it to harden again. “That’s it,” he said when it started to twitch in his grasp. “I want you to feel good too.”

As Harry adjusted to the feeling of being so completely full, combined with Merlin’s attention to his cock, the need that had spurred him on earlier returned with a vengeance, and he clenched down around Merlin, punching a surprised grunt from Merlin’s throat as his grip tightened reflexively. “Fuck me,” Harry panted. “The champion of Starbrow is at your mercy, so _take him._ ”

Like the first touch of his fingers, the first thrust was gentle, Merlin releasing Harry’s cock to land both hands on his hips, hardly rocking out before nudging back in. That wouldn’t do. On the next tiny thrust, Harry leaned forward when Merlin pulled back and then slammed against him, hard, on the return. Merlin growled, his grip tightening, and the next thrust was a proper one, Merlin withdrawing and shoving back in hard enough to hear the squelch of the lube and the slap of skin on skin, obscene and perfect.

“Yes,” Harry crowed, and he could hear Merlin’s dark, ringing laughter in his ears before he started to fuck Harry in earnest, pistoning in and out of Harry’s tight hole with low grunts of pleasure.

It was _marvellous_. Harry had never had anyone quite so large before, and each drag of Merlin’s fat cock rutted right against his prostate. He was fully hard again, his cock throbbing in time with Merlin’s aggressive thrusts, precum beading at the tip as Merlin ploughed into him like a battering ram, each shove forcing Harry a little bit wider as Merlin screwed his hips to try and find the best angle.

Harry was pretty sure he was drooling on the bed a little, his mouth wide open as he cried out his pleasure. “Oh, _yes_ , darling, don’t stop, harder _please_ , Ohzor, _yes, ah!_ ”

“You’re so tight,” Merlin snarled, truly sounding like an orc, his voice gravely and wild and hardly contained. “Such a tight, perfect arse, and you’re taking every inch and begging for more. I’ve never had a slut so eager as you, never so perfect a fit, but you’re eating it up, aren’t you? Elarwin, Starbrow’s Saviour, begging for the fattest cock he can find, on his knees for an _orc_ because nothing else will satisfy him. You were made to be conquered, starlight. Your arse was made to be dominated.”

“ _Please_ ,” Harry begged. “I need to come, darling, please.”

“Can you come on my cock?”

Harry had no idea. He’d never done it before, but sex had never felt like this before, had never been so full of desperate need and want and _more_. He whimpered, then yelped as Merlin wrapped an arm around his waist, dragging him upright so he was all but in Merlin’s lap as Merlin fucked up into him in sharp snaps of his hips. The angle was deeper like this, tighter, and Harry cried out, his cock bobbing against his stomach, spreading trails of precum, his balls tight and aching as they drew up close to his body.

“Come for me, starlight,” Merlin whispered. “I know you can, love. I know you can do it. Let go. Feel me, feeling how good I am inside you, and just let go.”

Harry sobbed when he came, orgasm torn from him like a victory snatched, his body clenching down tight around Merlin, who groaned and stilled.

His head pleasantly fuzzy, Harry didn’t realize Merlin was pulling out until he was suddenly empty, being turned over and laid back against the pillows. He scanned down Merlin’s body; his cock still jutted out, proud and purpling around the head and with the vein visibly pulsing. Harry frowned, reaching out for him, but Merlin cooed, “It’s alright, starlight. We don’t have to-“ His voice broke off, choked as Harry wrapped a hand around him.

“Come back inside,” Harry murmured. “Want to feel you inside me, want to feel you come. Please?”

Merlin hesitated a moment and then relented, and when he slid back in it sparked every oversensitive nerve in Harry’s body, making him gasp and shudder. Merlin froze, but Harry pulled him close, using his bent knees to nudge at Merlin’s hips. “Go on, love. Take what you need.”

The kiss Merlin laid on his lips was incredibly gentle, shockingly so, and every slow drag of his cock was blissful agony. Harry tilted his head back, eyes shut, and felt Merlin’s lips at his throat, pressing desperate kisses that didn’t match the pace of his thrusts, measured and careful, until he was pulsing, wet and warm, into Harry’s body. Harry sighed in pleasure, the feeling of being filled a satisfying one, and then drew Merlin down to him. Merlin’s cock slipped out as it softened, but that was irrelevant. Having Merlin close was the important thing, and close he was.

When Harry woke up, he couldn’t be sure if the throbbing was worse in his head or his arse. Hangovers always hit him hard, even when he was barely drunk, an unfair curse that none of his friends seemed to share. His arse was sore, and he felt sticky, a fuzzy reminder nudging at his aching head that last night they hadn’t used condoms, too caught up in the game to remember. Merlin got himself tested regularly, Harry knew, but he couldn’t remember if he’d been so recently. He groaned, his headache worsening as his mind strained, and he buried his face in the pillow in an attempt to block out the light streaming in through the window. That was a worry for when his head didn’t hurt quite so badly.

He didn’t even register that Merlin had left the bed until the door to his room was pushed open, Merlin hovering uncertainly in the doorway with two tablets and a glass of water. As Harry pushed himself into a seated position and held his hands out for the offering, Merlin stepped into the room, handing it over and then taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He opened his mouth and Harry held up a finger, popping the tablets into his mouth and swallowing them down with a gulp of water. He let his finger fall, and Merlin spoke. “We should talk about last night.”

There was an edge to his tone that Harry really didn’t like. “It was a game,” he said softly.

“Harry-“

“It was just a stupid roleplay game!” Harry said a little louder, wincing as his head throbbed again in protest. “We were just…we were drunk and fooling around.”

“We weren’t that drunk.”

There was genuine hurt in Merlin’s voice, hurt that Harry didn’t understand. He frowned at Merlin. “What?”

Merlin shook his head. “Nothing.” He stood up, and Harry stared after him, watching with confusion as Merlin left the room.

The following days were strained, and Harry got the distinct impression Merlin was avoiding him. He hardly saw his flatmate the whole week, and by the time the weekend rolled around again and Alistair and James showed up, dice bags and DM screen in tow, Harry could count on one hand the number of sentences they’d spoken to one another.

The game was terse, Merlin interacting with him as normal, but there was something lacklustre in his voice, an edge to the way he said ‘starlight’ that made Harry uneasy. He wasn’t oblivious to the looks that James and Alistair were shooting them either, concern written plainly across James’s face and hidden in Alistair’s eyes. When they paused for a dinner break, Alistair pulled Harry aside. “What’s gotten into you two?”

Harry shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. Merlin’s been like this all week.”

“Did something happen between you?

“We did a little bit of roleplay last weekend. Character building out of game,” Harry offered, because telling Alistair the whole truth was not an option. “Ever since then, Merlin’s been avoiding me.”

“And you don’t know why?”

Harry shook his head.

They stopped the game an hour early, the mood gone, and Harry didn’t miss the way James looked pointedly at him on the way out, “fix this” conveyed entirely without words. Merlin sulked into the kitchen as Harry finished clearing the remnants of the game away, and then he followed Merlin, taking the pan out of his hand before he could set it on the stove.

“It’s my turn to cook tonight,” he told Merlin.

“Right.” Merlin wouldn’t look at him.

Harry set the pan down and folded his arms defensively. “I know you’re mad at me.”

“Of course I’m bloody mad at you!” Merlin exploded, and Harry took a step back, blinking in shock. “Did you really think, after last week, that I wouldn’t be?”

“I-“

“You fucking used me, Harry. And then you called it a game.”

“It was!”

“You’re right.” Merlin looked like he wanted to throw something, but instead he thumped his fists gently against his thigh and shook his head, taking a step back. “It was a fucking game, and I was the idiot to fall for it, to think it meant anything more than just some drunken fling to you.”

“Merlin-“

“I don’t mean shit to you, do I?”

“What?” Harry protested, “Of course you do! You’re my best friend!”

“So what was last week, Harry? Did you really think we could have sex and then just go back to how things were?”

“I was hoping-“ Harry cut himself off, frowning. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Why on earth would I want that?”

“We’re friends. We don’t…we’re not…”

Merlin’s eyes narrowed. “You’re the one who insists that we’re not a couple every time anyone says anything.”

“Because…” Harry blinked. “I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Are you sure it was me you were thinking of?” Merlin raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms. “I never gave a rat’s arse, Harry. I would have asked you out ages ago if you hadn’t made it so blatantly obvious that you weren’t interested.”

“I…wasn’t interested?”

“You certainly gave that impression. But I was okay with that. You were still my best friend, and that was more than enough.”

Harry turned that over in his head, re-evaluating. Merlin had never corrected anyone’s assumptions about them, not even James and Alistair’s. Harry had always been the one to jump in first, had always blamed it on preserving Merlin’s feelings, preserving the friendship. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I’m an idiot. A frightened idiot who wouldn’t know a good thing if it bit him on the arse.”

“Or came inside his arse,” Merlin snorted, and an incredulous chuckle burst from Harry’s throat. Merlin grinned, and Harry bridged the gap between them, pressing his forehead against Merlin’s.

“Do you think you could ever forgive me?” Harry asked softly.

“I think I could be persuaded.”

“Let me make it up to you,” Harry suggested coyly. “We have an awful lot of time to account for.” He hooked his fingers in Merlin’s belt suggestively, and Merlin laughed and shook his head.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I am, a bit. But I’m very much in love with you, so I hope it balances out.”

“It does,” Merlin confirmed. “And for the record, I’m a bit in love with you too.”

“A bit?”

“Well, you did break my heart last week.”

“Fair enough.” Harry grinned. “Allow me to apologize.” He started to sink to his knees, but Merlin pulled him upright again.

“I have a condition.”

“Name it.”

“No Elarwin,” Merlin said. “No Ohzor. Just us. You and me, not characters we play. Alright?”

Harry tilted his head. “Never? You do make a very attractive barbarian, darling.”

Merlin paused. “Alright,” he amended, “maybe sometimes. But not for a while. I’d like to get to know us first.”

“Deal,” Harry agreed, and kissed Merlin for the first time as himself.


End file.
